Neil Smyth wrote:When developing for the iPad it is important to understand that you are not just targeting a hardware device. In essence you are leveraging an entire ecosystem consisting of the device hardware, the iOS operating system, software development kit (SDK), iTunes platform and, perhaps most importantly, the App Store. No longer is the success of a mobile device platform a matter of simply the operating system and hardware. Instead, a platform will succeed or fail based on the ecosystem to which it belongs. Google’s understanding of the importance of the applications market, for example, has contributed significantly to the success of Android based devices. Conversely Nokia’s failure to create a successful ecosystem was cited by CEO Stephen Elop as a contributing factor to the demise of the Symbian operating system and the company’s move to Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform for future Nokia smartphones.

It is also important to understand that most, if not all, the skills you learn developing iOS 5 applications for the iPad also apply to iPhone application development (a market consisting of over 160 iPhone owners, each a potential customer). The aim of this book is to teach you the skills necessary to build your own apps for the iPad. Beginning with the basics, this book provides an overview of the iPad hardware and the architecture of iOS 5. An introduction to programming in Objective-C is provided followed by an in-depth look at the design of iPad applications and user interfaces. More advanced topics such as file handling, database management, graphics drawing and animation are also covered, as are touch screen handling, gesture recognition, multitasking, iAds integration, location management, local notifications, maps, split views, camera access and video playback support.

New iOS 5 specific features are also covered in detail including page view controller implementation, the UIDocument class, iCloud based storage, Storyboard user interface design, automatic reference counting, Twitter integration and image filtering with Core Image.

iPad iOS 5 Development Essentials takes a modular approach to the subject of iPad application development with each chapter covering a self contained topic area. This makes the book both an easy to follow learning aid and an excellent reference resource.